Author's Note: I forgot to mention this in the ending notes of the first chapter. The back satchel that Daniel has is based off of the ones that the TF2 scout wears and the one that Shino Aburame wears in Part II of Naruto. (Yeah, Naruto...I can't believe I still remember stuff since I haven't watched it in years, I haven't watched it since my high school years. But I digress).

Anyways, onto the chapter.

Ryan's POV

Here we were...at the top of the stairs overlooking the lobby filled with the infected. What were we to do? If we so much as try to fight our way through, we would probably run out of bullets halfway through. Sneaking around was also not an option. If we try to sneak around them, they will most likely find us through scent or sound.

"Any options, Daniel?" I asked.

"I think I have one, follow me." He replied.

So, I did as he said. I followed him back through the hallway that had his apartment room. I didn't notice it the first time, but the hallway had several doors that were either locked, barricaded, or otherwise, inaccessible. Eventually, me and Daniel found our way back into his apartment.

"Your apartment? What are we doing back here?" I asked

"The fire escape. It might be our only way out of here."

Oh...the fire escape. I have completely forgotten about that.

"Alright, let's go." Daniel said as he opened the door that led to the fire escape.

And so, we made our way down the fire escape and into the back alley that it led to. The back alley smelled of trash and old, discarded cigarette butts. The alley was completely empty of any living beings (infected or uninfected). To my left was a way out of the alley. The right was blocked off by some fencing.

I said, "Out onto the street!"

We made our way to the street. On the street were several abandoned cars, some trash, looted, empty stores, and several stray infected.

"Let's clear the strays, they might become a problem later." Daniel said.

Daniel takes out his diamondback from it's holster and starts shooting at them. I took out my shotgun and did the same. Several minutes in, We heard some coughing noises. Then, I suddenly felt something wrap around my body.

"What the...?! Daniel, help!" I called.

"Don't worry, Ryan. I got you!"

I see Daniel turn around. Then, he shoots his gun at the infected behind me that had ensnared me. The infected soon explodes into a cloud of...some kind of gas. The thing that constricted me lost its grip on me and it just came off.

Even though that infected was dead, there was still several stray wondering around. So, me and Daniel took care of them all. Soon, the street was cleared of the stray infected. Daniel and I went to the corpse of the infected that had constricted me earlier.

The corpse had a tongue that was sticking out of it's mouth. It wore a dirty, white shirt with a green jacket over the shirt. It also wore some stained jeans with what looked like converse shoes. He also had some boils and/or pimples over his arms and half of his face.

"What the hell is it? I have never seen anything like it..." I said as I poked the body with the barrel of my shotgun.

"I don't know. Let's call it the "Cougher". Before it snatched you, I heard it coughing like mad."

"Cougher? That sounds appropriate...alright." As we spoke, Daniel used one of his speed-loaders to reload his gun.

We started walking down the street that we were on. I decided to start some small talk.

"Daniel, How many speed-loaders do you have left?" I asked.

"Three; I used two of them while we were killing the cougher and the strays. How about you? How many bullets do you have?"

"I think I have about forty left." I should count my shots next time.

Our small talk ended when we came upon a dead end. There was a over turned oil rig that was blocking our path. The body in the driver seat had fallen out of the seat. The window shields had bullet holes in them. And the body had several bullet holes in its head. What happened here? Were there survivors around here earlier?

"Let's cut through this diner." I heard Daniel call out. I turned my head and saw him climbing through a broken window.

I followed his lead (being careful not to cut myself on the broken window shards). This diner that we were cutting through happened to be my favorite restaurant that I use to go to all the time to eat lunch. It was called, "Little Joe's Burgers." Me, Daniel, and another friend of ours use to eat here all the time, we were regulars...

Three Weeks Earlier...

Ryan's POV

"Ryan, Are you okay? You haven't touched your lunch at all." Daniel asked.

"It's nothing, Danny." I answered.

"Ryan, I know when you have something on your mind. Please, you can tell me what's bugging you..."

We had came here to eat lunch as we normally do. I ordered the classic cheeseburger with grilled onions that I always got. Daniel ordered Joe's Special, the burger that this diner is locally famous for. Our friend, Austin, didn't join us today because he was busy and didn't have time to join us. He said something about helping a girl.

Little Joe's had a full house today. It would have been strange if it wasn't a full house. It was around the afternoon...lunchtime. Waiters came in and out of the kitchen. There was several people still waiting to be seated. There was the sounds of many conversations and the chatter of plates and silverware.

"Well, Daniel, It's about this girl. I admitted my feelings for her and she said that she just wants to be friends. She doesn't share the same feelings as I do..." I said.

"Ryan, I've been in that situation before." Daniel said.

"Then, what do I do?"

"You move on...Talk to yourself. Tell yourself that there are others."

I didn't say anything to that. Only because I didn't know how to respond...

"Ryan, you're a great guy. You're down to earth, loyal, honest, and brave. There will be others."

I took a moment to think about what he just said.

"...Thanks, Daniel. I had a feeling you knew what to do."

"No problem, now come on. Eat your food, it's getting cold."

"Okay."

Present Day

Ryan's POV

The girl that Austin helped out ended up becoming his girlfriend. I don't know if they're still alive or not, given the green flu outbreak...

"Ryan? Now is not the time to be going down memory lane...We got to keep moving." Daniel said.

I snapped out of my thoughts and refocused. Daniel was right. Now was not the time. I came up behind him before he reached his hand out to tell me to stop moving.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

I stopped and listened. I heard a low growl coming from the kitchen. It didn't sound like anything we have ever faced before.

"Sounds like we got company..." I said.

"Get your shotgun ready." He said.

Daniel rises his gun and fires a shot into the kitchen. The infected that was in the kitchen lets out a giant roar that was loud enough to shake the ground and shatter windows. The infected comes running out of the kitchen. It's appearance was enough to make me shit my pants.

It was a giant infected man with muscles so big that it would put the Hulk to shame...

Author's Note: And that was Chapter two. You get some character development and some story process.

The cougher is the Smoker. I called it the "Cougher" because...well, tell me what are the chances of different groups of survivors calling the infected the same names? Take "The Walking Dead" for example.

Rick and his group calls them "Walkers". Woodbury survivors called them "Biters" or something like that.

Following that logic, I came up with a different name for the smoking infected. And yes, I do watch "The Walking Dead".

I guess that is it for notes. See ya next time.